Why AI Isn't Safe for Your Kids (Yet) | Mike Rizkalla @ Snorble

Every investor told **Mike Rizkalla** to put ChatGPT inside his product for toddlers. He told them that was like handing a bazooka to a three-year-old. They funded his competitors instead, and within a year, Mike says, some of those AI toys were talking to kids about sex and how to make bombs. Mike is the founder and CEO of Snorble, a screen-free smart companion for kids that runs offline, has no camera, and lets parents set the routines and values. He's been building AI products for 15 years, had his first one acquired by Google in 2010, and before any of that spent 11 years as a punk rock guitarist who turned down a record label that wanted worldwide rights to his band. Brennan asks him why generative AI isn't safe for young kids yet, what it cost him to say no to that capital, and what every parent should check before buying an AI toy. They also get into the KPIs Mike says broke social media, the AI tool he says caught 3,500 predators in a single day, how he runs a hardware company with his phone off from bedtime to school drop-off, and why half his team invested in the company, including people he'd already laid off. **In this episode:** • Why generative AI isn't safe for young kids yet • The investor pressure to "just use ChatGPT," and what saying no cost him • What to look for, and what to avoid, when buying AI toys for your kids • Why cameras in a kid's bedroom are a hard no • The three KPIs he says broke social media • The AI tool that caught predators, and why big platforms passed on it • What his punk band taught him about building product • How half his team ended up investing, including people he'd laid off Subscribe for more unfiltered founder conversations on Not Another Podcast. Watch on YouTube, listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Follow Brennan and Infinity for what's next. **Timestamps:** 00:00 Intro 01:10 Welcome Mike Rizkalla 01:29 What the punk rocker would tell the CEO 02:45 The band rule behind how he builds product 05:07 Why there's no such thing as an MVP 07:24 Shipping hardware through Covid 09:58 Is hardware the only moat left? 12:00 Why Snorble said no to generative AI 14:11 A bazooka to a three-year-old 15:11 Why AI is risky for young kids 17:26 What he'd tell the CEO of Mattel 20:47 Why AI went from lab to production too fast 24:23 Our KPIs are wrong 26:43 What parents should look for in AI toys 30:09 Predators and plausible deniability 32:40 Why cameras don't belong in kids' rooms 35:07 Running a company with his phone off at night 37:46 The team members who invested after layoffs 42:58 When a 10 million dollar commitment fell through 49:59 The 22-inch cookie that got his band on TV